The Hindu : Isolation ward project turns a non-starter

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 13, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Isolation ward project turns a non-starter

By M. Dinesh Varma

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 12. The move to set up a full-fledged isolation ward at the General Hospital to quarantine patients with contagious diseases, has become a non-starter with the scare over the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) subsiding.

The ambitious proposal, which had received support from various Government quarters at the height of the SARS scare, is learnt to have been quietly sidelined. Apart from the initial enthusiasm shown by the higher-ups for the proposal to set up a full-fledged ward, nothing has worked to plan, sources said.

The hospital is yet to receive even a portion of the Rs. 75 lakhs sanctioned by the Cabinet for the isolation ward. The only facility that the ward can boast of at present is a ventilator which is used for basic anaesthetic procedures.

The isolation ward is at present being used to treat routine cases of food poisoning, cholera and diarrhoea. Hospital sources expressed the doubt whether the Rs. 75 lakhs promised by the Government would eventually materialise for the development of the ward.

The General Hospital authorities had readied a self-contained 10-bed ward in anticipation of modern facilities ranging from incubators and ambubags to pulse oxymeters, to tackle with any epidemic exigency, including SARS suspected cases.

Besides the patients, separate rooms for treating doctors and paramedical staff were also proposed at the unit and a centrally air-conditioned facility devoid of exhaust to offset the risks of droplet spread of diseases that spread through the respiratory route such as SARS), formed the crux of the plan.

Another feature was the use of specially designed curtains to facilitate the practice of flexible isolation. The hospital authorities had even applied their mind to putting in place separate mechanisms for the disposal of sputum and other human wastes.

The space for the isolation wards had been carved off the male and female wards of patients with physical disability. The relatively more spacious male ward was earmarked for housing the 10-bed isolation ward while the female section was set apart as a quarantine zone for SARS positive cases.

The PWD, which was in charge of the civil works, was also directed to design a patio that would allow in-patients to walk around without risking transmission of disease.

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